Online market research

Online shop research:

I have decided to look at a high street front runner, Topshop, just to show how this style of illustration is beginning to infiltrate the wider market in retail. In terms of the bags and accessories there is quite a good percentage of items with illustrations of this genre, although they are definitely not produced in a lo-fi traditional fashion, it is the line work and aesthetic of this style I am going to focus on most for this research. There were not, however, any tote bags in this style which I can take as a potentially good thing as people may want to buy a more exclusive product in the style I am going for.

After looking quickly at a more recognised high street store, I am now going to focus on more underground companies. As a quick reference loin possibly for a later post, I took a quick look at rising online shop, Oh Deer. They employ illustrators and everything is made in the UK, the companies founders also give a chances to budding illustrators as they allow them to submit work with a sight to possibly sell. 

I also looked at Redbubble.com as I know that they do many illustrated products and most notably they have a vast range of tote bags. I found a few cool products in the style I want to pursue:

I really love the line work on this bag, it's simple and is a good example of one facet of lo-fi. Although at the minute I don't think I will be using too much colour in my own pieces this is still a really nice example of the style being executed. 

This is also a really good example of another area of lo-fi, with just the black and white and simple yet bold line drawing. A large majority of the bags in this style at the minute are for bands, which is a good thing as their could be an opening in the market for a more quirky concept for illustrated tote bags. 

I also had a quick look at whats on offer in the 'online marketplace' Etsy.com. Although it is made up of various freelancers, it is still an good thing to look at as it is a sort of home for handmade, quirky products. 

I found a few that really appealed to me:

One from a seller called 'cool and the bag'(https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Coolandthebag?ref=l2-shopheader-name)

I love the simple line work and the actual subject matter on the bags, I just think they're really cool and it really embodies the area of lo-fi I want to break into. 

Another seller I really liked was 'Bijou Karman', (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BijouKarman?ref=l2-shopheader-name).

The portraits of 'some groovy people' from the sixties are really lovely and sensitive, most importantly they are full of character which is an aspect i'm going to focus on when I come down to actually producing the illustrations. 

http://ohhdeer.com

https://www.etsy.com

http://www.topshop.com